Middle school students attend the rally against the First Employment Contract (CPE) Law in Paris, capital of France, April 4, 2006. Over one million people marched Tuesday for a fifth day in nearly 200 towns and cities across France to protest the newly approved CPE law. (Xinhua Photo)

    PARIS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 protesters were arrested across France during clashes with riot police, after at least 1 million people took to the streets in protest against government's unpopular new jobs plan for young people, police said on Tuesday.

    Up to 312 people were arrested nationwide, with 205 of them in Paris, and nine police officers slightly injured, according to the police.

    The protests had been mostly peaceful, but clash erupted toward the end of the demonstration in Paris, where indignant youths in groups pelted police with paving stones, bottles, and were responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

    In Rennes, a city in northwest France, rioting young protesters smashed shop windows, bus shelters and clashed with police. In the northeastern city of Lille, hundreds of youths smashed store fronts, vandalized cars and telephone boxes, as violence escalated.

    Huge protests swept across the country, running through the country's second-largest city Marseille, and then western city Nantes, all the way to southeastern Saint-Etienne.

    In Reunion, the French Indian Ocean island, some 2,000 people poured into the streets, voicing their indignation.

    The turmoil came after the disputed First Employment Contract (CPE),aimed at reducing a high youth unemployment rate, was published on Sunday.

    But opponents believed the CPE law, which allows employers to fire workers under 26 during their first two years on a job without giving a reason, would erode hard-won labour rights and make it more difficult for youths to find long-term jobs.

    They voiced strong opposition to the CPE, describing it as "surrealistic" and "undemocratic."

    Although President Jacques Chirac said the document would be replaced by a modified version, trade unions and student organizations rejected a compromise offered by the president and called for nationwide demonstrations. Enditem

[1] [2] [3] [4]